Thanks and Happy Holidaze everyone!

CartoonM!ke · Post by **CartoonM!ke** » Fri Dec 22, 2006 6:10 am

(Holidaze is a made-up word, it combines Holidays and the "Daze" that one has when one is overwhelmed)

Just wanted to say thanks to everyone here for providing such a wonderful enviroment here in this forum. It's very stimulating and something I look forward to visiting.

Especially in the past month, I had a intense medical scare and this forum & anime studio helped me get though the real scary time when I and my doctor had no idea what was wrong with me. Fortunetly it wasn't anything serious ( and not cancer, whew!) and I'm getting treatment for it and am getting better.

Thanks again everyone, and have a good end-of-year-celebration!

m!ke

bupaje · Post by **bupaje** » Fri Dec 22, 2006 7:05 am

@CartoonMike - glad to hear you are ok Mike. I know all about about daze - 365 daze in my year. :/ Stay Healthy.

Rasheed · Post by **Rasheed** » Fri Dec 22, 2006 9:35 am

I'm glad you're okay.

I wanted to note, that not everyone enjoys these "jolly" times. For some people Christmas is a nightmare, because they have no family or relatives to visit, while their neighbors are off for the Hollydays. Others think Christmas is just plain bogus, invented to sell more stuff. In any way, there is not a shred of evidence that the historical Jezus ever existed (and the New Testament doesn't count as a historical reference), and if he did, he was probably born in Spring, 6 BC. And as for Santa, well, you all know what he is not. Of course, in this light, New Year isn't really the start of a new year, but just another day in the year. It has nothing to do with the birth of some Jewish boy child, unless you actually believe what is in the scriptures (which were BTW highly censored in the early days of Christianity).

In short, Christmas and New Year is all between your ears, and it is what you make of it. So have a happy celebration, and try to forget your worries for a few days.

rylleman · Post by **rylleman** » Fri Dec 22, 2006 10:23 am

* Merry Christmas for those of you not reading Swedish.

jahnocli · Post by **jahnocli** » Fri Dec 22, 2006 12:02 pm

rylleman wrote:Merry Christmas for those of you not reading Swedish.

I guess that's everyone outside Sweden then?...

rylleman · Post by **rylleman** » Fri Dec 22, 2006 12:22 pm

jahnocli wrote:I guess that's everyone outside Sweden then?...

Yeah...
But I didn't have time to do an english version. Maybe next year, and then maybe something animated.

ingie01 · Post by **ingie01** » Fri Dec 22, 2006 1:38 pm

Right back at ya!
People on this forum are, well........different. Very tolerent bunch.

CartoonM!ke · Post by **CartoonM!ke** » Fri Dec 22, 2006 3:39 pm

Rasheed wrote:I'm glad you're okay.

I wanted to note, that not everyone enjoys these "jolly" times. For some people Christmas is a nightmare, because they have no family or relatives to visit, while their neighbors are off for the Hollydays. Others think Christmas is just plain bogus, invented to sell more stuff. In any way, there is not a shred of evidence that the historical Jezus ever existed (and the New Testament doesn't count as a historical reference), and if he did, he was probably born in Spring, 6 BC. And as for Santa, well, you all know what he is not. Of course, in this light, New Year isn't really the start of a new year, but just another day in the year. It has nothing to do with the birth of some Jewish boy child, unless you actually believe what is in the scriptures (which were BTW highly censored in the early days of Christianity).

In short, Christmas and New Year is all between your ears, and it is what you make of it. So have a happy celebration, and try to forget your worries for a few days.

While I agree with you, Rasheed, this time of year for me (in the Northern Hemisphere) has always been special to me even w/o the Christian overtones. Even as a kid, I realized that this time of year with the cold and the snow, was a sign that the year was winding down and I took it as a chance to do an review of what I had done in the past year and to look forward to the next.

And in Euope, when it was still a land of pagans, would tie their celebrations in with the change of the seasons. Which always made sense to me. And to the early missionaries to Europe. Ever notice how close Easter and Christmas is to the winter Solstice (longest night of the year) and the spring Equinox (when both day and night are balanced).

Oh, I could go on, but won't.

Thanks for the comments everyone. I got some good chuckles out of some of the replies. This is a great group of people!

Post by **Víctor Paredes** » Fri Dec 22, 2006 4:06 pm

this is the perfect place for my question.
Christmas
why Xmas?
Why the X?
it's something as "RTFM"?

happy holidays for all. well, i'm always giving thanks in this forum, you are just great, i have learned a lot (and tried to teach a little). today i say again, thanks.

CartoonM!ke · Post by **CartoonM!ke** » Fri Dec 22, 2006 5:17 pm

selgin wrote:this is the perfect place for my question.
Christmas
why Xmas?
Why the X?
it's something as "RTFM"?

happy holidays for all. well, i'm always giving thanks in this forum, you are just great, i have learned a lot (and tried to teach a little). today i say again, thanks.

I think it's a typographic thing. "X" kinda looks like a cross (actually Romans did use something like that...) and became a short hand for Christmas -- Xmas is the result.

And that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

heyvern · Post by **heyvern** » Fri Dec 22, 2006 7:16 pm

Wow!

I thought xmas was a way to deemphasize the religious aspects of the holiday. I was completely wrong!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xmas

Fascinating. It has been in use a lot longer than I realized.

---------
rylleman,

Is Christmas in Sweden* as wonderful as I imagine? Like a beautiful holiday greeting card come to life? Or am I romanticizing it too much?

It was 70 degrees here in my town a few days ago. And I am on the EAST coast of the US. It is suppose to be cold and snowy. All of the local fire departments in my area send Santa to all the neighborhoods in one of their fire trucks. This annoys and frightens me every year. I hear the sirens of a bunch of emergency vehicles right outside my window on my street and panic (I live in a row house. A bad fire could take out the whole neighborhood.)

Plus if I am doing anything important involving ... CONCENTRATION I have to stop and cover my ears.

*I am listening to my double CD greatest hits of ABBA as I type this.

-vern

Touched · Post by **Touched** » Fri Dec 22, 2006 7:55 pm

Happy Yule, Solstice, and all the rest to everyone. ^_^ Personally, I don't care which of the winter festivals I celebrate, as long as I get to celebrate!

artfx · Post by **artfx** » Fri Dec 22, 2006 8:54 pm

Interesting. So what does Onskar mean? I am guessing Jul might be what we call Yule from northern solstice festivals of old. I'll take a stab and assume God means God and that leaves Onskar for something like "merry"?

I like comparitive language study. It's almost as interesting as comparitive solstice festivals and the religions behind them.

Touched · Post by **Touched** » Fri Dec 22, 2006 9:09 pm

"God" means "good", not "god".

F.M. · Post by **F.M.** » Fri Dec 22, 2006 9:37 pm

SANTA CLAUSE NOT REAL! TAKE IT BACK!